Merchant
/ˈmɜːr.tʃənt/noun
A person or company engaged in buying and selling goods, especially on a large scale.
Did you know?Merchant comes through Old French from Latin *mercari* (“to trade”), from *merx* (“merchandise”), and that same ancient trade-root also gave us words like *market* and *commerce*—proof that language itself has always been a system of exchange.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*merǵ-
“to trade, exchange, or deal in goods”
Latin
Latin
mercari
“to trade, traffic, buy and sell”
Latin
Latin
merx
“merchandise, goods for sale”
Old French
Old French
marchant
“a trader, dealer”
Middle English
English
marchant
“a trader or buyer and seller of goods”
Modern English
English
merchant
“a person engaged in buying and selling goods”
Explore more surprising origins